ICICI Bank case: CBI transfers investigating officer

The agency had carried out searches at multiple locations after the charge of the case was given to new Investigating officer Mohit Gupta.

ET Bureau

January 28, 2019, 06:15 IST

In yet another controversy which does not augur well for the reputation of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), its officer(s) investigating the high profile case allegedly involving ICICI MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar are under the agency’s scanner for “deliberately” delaying the registration of FIR and leaking out classified information pertaining searches to be carried out on accused.

A Superintendent of Police (SP), CBI, among others, is under the agency’s spotlight for “deliberately” dragging feet over the case by not converting it’s preliminary enquiry (PE) into a regular case.

The agency moved out SP Sudhanshu Dhar Mishra on January 23, a day after it booked Chanda Kocchar, her husband and Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot. Mishra was moved out after a “discreet enquiry” by the agency revealed a “strong possibility” of information regarding searches on accused to be leaked out, said CBI sources on condition of anonymity. Mishra was immediately transferred out of the Banking and Securities Fraud Cell (BSFC) to Economic Offences Branch.

Role of Mishra along with other officers, if any, is being looked into, said agency sources. They added “ICICI bank fraud is one of the very important cases that has been pending without progress. The PE was earlier registered in this case after review some time ago the PE was speeded up and the PE was converted into a regular case”.

They added “immediately after registration of regular case on January 22, searches were proposed to be conducted very soon. However, it was suspected that there was a possibility of information about the searches being leaked. Therefore, a discreet enquiry was conducted and role of Sudhanshu Dhar Mishra was strongly suspected”.

He was transferred out on January 23, they added, pending detail inquiry into the matter the searches were conducted under the supervision of Mohit Gupta, SP. “Role of Mishra and other officers in keeping this case pending and others, if any, is also being looked into”, they said.

The agency’s reputation has taken a strong hit recently after its Director Alok Verma was ousted, in a first, by the Selection panel comprising nominee of Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister and leader of opposition by a 2:1 vote. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had indicted Verma and recommended probe against him.

Also, its former special Director Rakesh Asthana is facing a probe by the agency for allegedly demanding illegal gratification from an accused in a money laundering case. Asthana had levelled serious allegations against Verma and his deputy, Joint Director A K Sharma for accepting illegal gratification from private colonizers to not convert a preliminary enquiry into an FIR. The CBI, last week, registered an FIR against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, an IAS officers and 15 private colonizers on charges of corruption, criminal conspiracy, cheating and causing a loss to the state exchequer.

ET was first to report on January 26 that after CBI, it is the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which is likely to put a spotlight on the ICICI case to probe charges of money laundering, if any. Among others, the agency will also examine as to whether Chanda Kochhar made any personal gains by alleged irregularities in release of loans sanctioned by ICICI bank to Videocon in 2012.

Allegations against the accused are that Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot allegedly invested crores of rupees in Nupower months after the Videocon group got Rs 3,250 crore as loan from the ICICI Bank in 2012.

It might be reminded that senior Cabinet Minister Arun Jaitley had took to social media rebuking CBI for naming top banking officials in ICICI-Videocon loan case and dubbing the move “investigative adventurism”.

Jaitley, in a blog had said, “if we include the entire who’s who of the Baking industry- with or without evidence- what cause are we serving or actually hurting?”.

A recent Allahabad high court judgment may, however, provide some relief with the court ruling that there shall be no tax levied in case of purchases made at duty free stores at the arrival or departure terminals.